Currently available seat belts of the conventional three point type may be provided with tensionless comfort features requiring manual operation by the occupant being restrained. Thus, when one initially buckles up the seat belt, the shoulder belt will be drawn up with a high degree of tension, across the body. Then, by pulling on the belt, an unspecifiable amount of belt slack may be introduced to provide tensionless comfort, with the belt temporarily latched into a position where it is spaced away from the body of the occupant.
Once an occupant is in the tensionless comfort position, a number of actions may occur that could result in a potentially unsafe driving adjustment for the seat belt, where the belt is spaced a considerable distance away from the body of the occupant. These occurrences may include the following:
1. Seat adjustment, forward or back. PA1 2. Seat back reclining adjustment. PA1 3. Occupant movement, such as reaching for the glove compartment or the like.
When certain of these movements occur, the seat belt may be in an unsafe position where it is spaced substantially away from the body of the occupant so that, in the event of a sudden stop or an accident, the occupant's body would travel a considerable distance before engagement with the seat belt, thereby potentially causing injury to the occupant.
Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to avoid the unsafe conditions such as those outlined above, which may occur with seat belt systems employing a manual tensionless comfort feature.